Grid Environments

Grid computing enables applying the resources of many computers or computing clusters in a network to a single problem at the same time.

For the researcher, grid is an infrastructure, a virtual working environment that allows deployment of distributed data and computing resources via, for example, the Internet. The grid combines various computing resources, databases, and measuring devices that comprise a pool of resources for coordinated, integrated and flexible shared use.

There are several grid infrastructures in Europe. The most important feature common to all of them is that they make it possible to cross organizational boundaries in combining, distributing and administering resources such as computing processors, data storages and materials, network connections, and application services.

Grid infrastructures

Grid infrastructures are available for special purposes:

  • PRACE, enabling the shared use of the European supercomputing centers
  • Nordic WLCG tier-1 in NEIC webpages
  • EGI is a foundation coordinating the resources of National Grid Initiatives (NGIs)
  • LHC Computing Grid project was initiated in 2002 to maintain and analyze the data accumulated by the LHC particle collider.